Ministry: Construction store selling food must close
Latvian garden and construction supplies store Depo has been told to close its doors because selling food does not make it an essential shop.
Construction stores and garden centers must shut under the government's latest lockdown rules, but Latvian chain Depo's Estonian stores have kept their doors open because shops also sell food.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MEAC) has said the store should be closed.
Laura Laaster, a spokesperson for MKM, told ERR that if a construction shop sells groceries, it does not mean that it is a grocery store.
"This is not the case that when a constriction store creates cheese counters and says "we are now a grocery store". If a store sells several types of products, it will only be defined as a grocery store when groceries make up the majority of turnover," Laaster said.
She said this is definitely not the case with the Depo and the Health Board is in contact with the store in Tallinn.
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Editor: Helen Wright